Exitmusic - The Decline of the West (2007)

Playing Exitmusic's debut The Decline Of The West is like washing in a passionate wall of emotion. This male/female duo feeds their songwriting with bits of trance-like ambience (part Portishead meets Massive Attack, part Sarah Nixey meets Calico Sunset) and ethereal post-rock lendings (Blonde Redhead flirting with Viva Voce). Apparently recorded in various Los Angeles apartments, this 8-song full-length carries a lot of blissed out arrangements that slowly build into heartbreaking, atmospherically sufficating sugar pills. The duo (Aleksa Palladino and Devon Church) handle almost all of the instrumentation and share vocal duties, but the real treat is Aleksa's breathy vox weaving throughout the melancholy pocket orchestra's. Church adds a subtle amount of cocky dryness to offset The Decline Of The West's glazed charm, making the whole thing come off like a forlorn yet casually epic affair. In short, if you love dramatic/cinematic noise-pop, EXITMUSIC will delight. Without a doubt, this record wil be in the running for best DIY album of the year.